He looks a bit the worse for wear...

MANNY THE ROBOT.

September 1, 1989

- DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, UTAH — MANNY THE ROBOT. He looks a bit the worse for wear, suspended in an Army warehouse with his stainless steel joints and plastic sensors exposed and a dusty black rubber mask on his head. But U.S. soldiers will someday have the mechanical man to thank for the effectiveness of their protective clothing. The 5-foot-11, 187-pound robot was developed by Pacific Northwest Laboratories in Richland, Wash., and will be used to test the abilities of special clothing to protect soldiers against chemicals and nerve gases. The robot's 38 joints are powered by rotary and linear actuators that enable him to walk at 3 mph, crouch, wave, sit, stand and crawl as guided by a computer program. His butyl rubber skin will be fitted with sensors that can detect penetration of up to one-billionth of an ounce of a chemical or nerve agent. Lothar Salomon, scientific director at this remote post in Utah's western desert, calls Manny the ''closest thing to a human being possible.''